The busiest shopping season is upon us. This time of year is your best opportunity to attract new visitors to your Artist Shop and convert them into regular customers. Your success is our priority, and that’s why we’re letting you in on our upcoming Season of Giving holiday campaign. We’re sharing our concept with you to give you ideas on how to market your shop during the holiday season.
This year, we’re focusing on the warm, fuzzy feeling we all experience when we give back during the holidays. Unwrapping presents is cool and all, but nothing beats giving a unique gift we know the recipient will cherish. It feels even better when that gift raises money for communities in need, which Threadless Causes makes it easy to do. That warm feeling will be the compass that guides us through the Season of Giving.
The more your shop aligns with the spirit of our holiday campaign, the better chances you’ll have at getting featured in the Threadless Marketplace or our Threadless Blog. Features always increase your visibility and could trigger a significant lift in your sales! Continue reading to learn more about our holiday campaign.
The Message: “Art Gives. Give Back!”
Telling a compelling story in your holiday promotions not only helps you connect with your audience, but it also illustrates the impact they make by purchasing a single product. Customers who buy items from your Artist Shop during the holiday season give back in three ways:
- Your unique products make awesome gifts for your customers to give to their loved ones for the holidays.
- Each time they buy anything from your shop, they directly support you, an independent artist.
- When they purchase your Threadless Causes designs, they help raise money for charities doing critical work around the world. NOTE: If you don’t currently have Causes set up in your shop and would like to join our fundraising efforts, visit our Help Page for instructions.
The Season of Giving puts your customers at the center of the story. As a giver of gifts, they not only spread joy to their loved ones, but they also support independent artists and important causes. As you promote yourself on social media and in your email newsletter, remind your fans that they can give back threefold by purchasing from your Artist Shop.
The Tone
Threadless aims straight for the feels with the Season of Giving and our message of “Art Gives. Give Art!” As we put together the text and visuals for our holiday promotions, we want to evoke feelings associated with the act of giving. If you’re looking to strike a similar tone in your own promotions, here’s a list of seasonal keywords that might inspire you:
- Joy and Warmth
- Community and Togetherness
- Support and Caring
- Sincerity / Authenticity / Intention / Thoughtfulness
Make sure to be as consistent as possible with the tone of your promotional materials so your followers can really grasp and connect with the theme of your campaign.
The Look
Of course, we wouldn’t have anything to promote if it weren’t for all the awesome designs Threadless artists submit to our Marketplace every day. For the Season of Giving campaign, we want to showcase designs that fall under the following themes:
- Threadless Causes (Major part of our campaign!)
- Traditional holiday imagery (Santa, menorahs, snowmen, etc.)
- Hopeful, uplifting messages (e.g. You are not alone.)
- Winter activities (sledding, skiing, snowboarding, etc.)
- Socially aware themes (Humanitarian Aid, Pride, Suicide Prevention, etc.)
- Ugly sweater patterns
- Krampus (Not everyone loves the holiday season.)
Use the above holiday themes as prompts for your new designs. Regularly adding new designs to your Artist Shop is the best way to drive sales and attract new customers, and will increase your visibility in “new” search queries if you’re opted into the Threadless Marketplace. It’ll also increase your chances of getting a feature in our email, in our blog, or on our social profiles. So keep adding new designs every week from November to December!
The below color palette represents another way you can theme your design aesthetic this holiday season. Each timeframe shifts tone as we approach key holiday dates. Consider making new designs that incorporate the below colors.
Want Us to Feature You in Our Holiday Collection?
We’re curating a holiday collection of Threadless Causes designs to showcase to our community through December 17, 2021. Getting featured will improve the chances of new customers discovering your Artist Shop. If you’d like for us to consider your work for the collection, follow these instructions:
- Ensure you’re opted into the Threadless Marketplace, then publish one or more new holiday-themed designs in your Artist Shop by November 1, exclusively for Threadless. Participating artists can publish as many designs as they want.
- Ensure your designs support a Cause and charity. Commit to donating at least 50% of your proceeds from the sale of these specific designs. Threadless matches collective donations up to $100,000 for each Cause.
- Email start@threadless.com with links to your new Causes designs. Alternatively, you can email us your art files and we can either help set up your products in your Artist Shop or add your design directly in our holiday collection with you as a collaborator (select designs).
What You Could Get in Return
- If selected, your designs will appear in the Threadless Marketplace via our holiday-themed collection.
- From November 1 to December 17, 2021, we’ll promote your designs in the Marketplace, in our email newsletters, on our social media, and in our social ad campaigns.
- We’ll also feature your designs in Threadless Blog posts including a holiday style guide, a Causes–based gift guide, and more. NOTE: The more designs chosen for the collection, the more we’ll promote.
Let the season begin! Come back to Creative Resources for more guidance on how to promote your Artist Shop during the holidays. As the Season of Giving progresses, we’ll share even more tips to ensure you have a successful winter. Stay tuned!
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